Yesterday, I drew a mandala on a previously painted page in one of my art journals. This journal is almost full so I’m just trying to fill it up before the end of the year. There’s probably less than 10 pages to go.

And today, well tonight actually, I went back to an old craft of mine: a mini wreath ornament made from a wooden curtain ring. I picked seasonal colors seeing how it is officially fall now, which is my favorite season.

That’s it for today. I’ll be back on Sunday for the new schedule. Have a good weekend!

A few years ago, I made a bunch of journals out of various papers and greeting cards. Since I still have a lot of papers and cards, I thought I’d start doing my greeting card journals again. I use 10 sheets of paper and fold them all in half to end up with 20 double-sided pages.

I added a few tabs, journaling cards and stickers to some of the pages as well as an envelope at the back.

This journal is a great size to carry around and write/sketch/art journal on the go. I’ll definitely make more. I might even send a few by mail to some lucky friends!

Like this:

So I got lost for a little while there. But fear no more, I found my way back. In fact, when I woke up (way too early) this morning, I declared today to be “Take back my life” day. What better way to do this than getting back to this little blog of mine which used to be such a big part of my life. And I have to say, I miss it. A whole lot! I actually have quite a few things to show you on here but we’ll start with the album above…

This is a travel mini-album that I created out of envelops and file folders for a friend so she could put photos of her trip to Europe. It took quite some time to make this beauty but I loved every single minute of it. The hardest part of the process was taking the photos and finally giving it to its owner! If you click on the photo above, it will take you to my Flickr album where you can see photos of all the pages.

I also wanted to let you know that I closed my Artfire shop but am working instead on opening an Etsy shop. Of course, I’ll let you all know when that’s done. And if there’s something in particular that you like to see in there, feel free to let me know.

After spending all summer creating on Index cards and half a month doing my zentangle coasters, I really feel the need to get back to other forms of creativity. Like sewing. And artistic recycling. I’m hoping to turn these pieces of worn out jeans into a chew-toy for my brother’s dog. I’ll let you know if it worked or not. Wishing you a fun-filled weekend! And if you can, stop by my mom’s blog to see her beautiful coasters! (She loves comments too!)

My mother showed me an interesting technique in a local magazine that I absolutely wanted to try as soon as possible. The article mentioned to use natural fiber for the cloth so I picked this 100% cotton white tank top. I drew my design with a permanent marker and coloured it with wax crayons. When I was all done, I ironed the cloth on the reverse, making sure to have a sheet of white paper or two between the design and the ironing surface, in this case, inside the tank top after turning it inside-out. I ironed the design to remove the excess wax and to set the design. I changed the paper and ironed again to make sure there was no residue. Now, I can proudly wear this one-of-a-kind tank top! This was so easy to do that it can be done as an activity with children (don’t let them use the iron without supervision!)

Like this:

Believe it or not, dear readers, but today’s project was NOT done following a tutorial. It’s not a new concept but I thought it was a good idea: an empty CD case used as an art frame. The trick is to remove the top part, turn it on itself and reattach it. I made this cute mixed media piece to show you how it looks as a frame. This is a good way to display small pieces of art (about 4,5″) without making holes in your walls or spending lots of money on designer frames. The best part is that when you want to store the art, you just have to place the top part of the case in its original position and it’s instant storage! Also, a good way to send small artwork through the mail without worrying about it being folded…

Ever since I got my laptop, last year, I’ve been using my optic mouse without a mouse pad. At first, it didn’t really bother me but after a while, I found that I needed something to make the mouse work better. Instead of going out to the store and buying a boring mouse pad, I decided to make my own. A very simple tutorial was waiting in my bookmarks and I already had all the supplies. In fact, I have a cardboard box full of fabric samplers that were given to me earlier this year. And my craft foam is self-adhesive so it was really simple to glue the two pieces together. I don’t have spray adhesive as suggested in the tutorial but I do have Mod Podge which worked perfectly well. Next time though, I will try to match the foam colour with the fabric or I will cover the sides with fabric as well.